Man Trades In Bugatti Veyron For Chevrolet Corvette ZR1

You’d never expect to see a Bugatti Veyron sitting in the used car lot of a Chevrolet dealership but that’s exactly what happened at All American Chevrolet in Midland, Texas. The circumstances surrounding the bizarre occurrence are not exactly clear but allegedly a man by the name of Carlton Beal Jr. traded in his Veyron, estimated to be worth around $1.6 million, for a brand new Chevrolet Corvette ZR1, which costs a little over $100 grand.

The Veyron was a 2008 model finished in a two-tone black and red color scheme similar to the one pictured and only had 2,307 miles on the odometer. It was traded in for a black Corvette ZR1 that was sitting in inventory.

Beal runs a privately held petroleum and natural gas company, also in Midland, and has previously owned a Lamborghini Diablo and McLaren F1 so it’s safe to say he knows a thing or two about supercar ownership.

Perhaps it was an investment gone bad or an extreme act of patriotism but whatever it was Beal must have had a good reason for the trade. No details surrounding the deal have been revealed.

Incidentally, the Corvette ZR1 runs a supercharged 6.2-liter V-8 and accelerates from 0-60 mph in 3.3 seconds and reaches a top speed of 205 mph. The Bugatti Veyron packs a quad-turbocharged 8.0-liter W-16 engine and takes just 2.4 seconds to reach 60 mph from rest and maxes out at 253 mph.

One would think that's a totally bizarre situation, but for a person such as myself, this kinda hits close to home. I recently switched from an '08 Mercedes-Benz CLS 550 to a '10 Chevy Camaro SS. Now, undoubtedly Carlton's Bugatti is 10x more expensive than my Benz, but perhaps he felt just as I did when he got his 'Vette: prioritizing. Ever since I got my Camaro, I have LITERALLY seen guys in Audi R8s to Ferrari 430s "oogling" at my car! I grew tired of all the "gaudy" imagery that my car represented, and opted for something that complimented my true nature. Maybe Carlton felt like that ZR1 'Vette was more "bad-ass" than that Veyron--sometimes as a man you want to drive around in something that makes you feel invigorating, instead of an elitist. Besides, in today's economy, driving around in a 1.5 million dollar vehicle does make you "rethink" your spending habits! The way I see it, no matter how many pretty, expensive European cars they make, you can NEVER go wrong with an bad-ass American car!

find coupon
Posted: 2/25/2010 9:34pm PST

Well the Chevrolet Corvette Convertible's big LS3 engine gives supercar acceleration while providing useful torque in everyday driving that you would like and also it delivers better fuel economy compared with other cars in its class. Its magnetic suspension system contributes to handling, while the Corvette's look is distinct.

95z28
Posted: 4/27/2012 10:34am PDT

Except the 2010 ZR1 has the LS9, the vette gave away it's old goodies to the camaro in 2010.

EL34
Posted: 2/25/2010 10:32pm PST

Wow, this nitwit went from a hand made work of art Veyron to a plastic piece of garbage Corvette. He needs his head examined or he needed the money.

SuperSkyline89
Posted: 2/26/2010 5:09am PST

Well, the ZR1 is definitely more badass than the Veyron. But seriously, there's not way this guy did this because of fuel economy or anything like that. I mean come on, he's owned a McLaren F1 and a Diablo before. And as for elitist cars, that's just people being jealous of others' success, it's not real. More likely he just thought the Vette would be a more fun car, which I bet it is.

Michael
Posted: 2/26/2010 7:08am PST

Isn't that the guy who crashed his car into a beach? I remember hearing a story of a big wig petroleum owner who got distracted looking at a seagull and then crashed his bugatti veyron into a beach at corpus christy. Maybe they think they can fix it?

Shappy
Posted: 2/26/2010 9:39am PST

Well considering the chocolate doppelganger, I'd say he made a good decision. The Veyron is overrated. He must have taken a tip from Good Time Charlie and got the ZR1. God knows Two Finger Tommy would have convinced him otherwise considering the DFG the Veyron has. I'm going to look into get a DTD up and runnning dedicated to finding out what the DFG is on the ZR1. I'll keep you guys updated.

Steph
Posted: 2/26/2010 5:35pm PST

Hi, I own a Subaru STI 2009, anyone want to exchange with a Porsche 911 Twin Turbo? I am very deseperate, I woul also accept a Bugatti Veyron any year. lol :)

atyty
Posted: 2/27/2010 9:28am PST

I think some people miss the point. It is not surprising that he uses a corvette after bugatti, it is surprising that he seems to make the exchange the cars without gaining money. Otherwise almost every superrich guy changes many cars frequently. I would not be even surprised even he had a smart, but with 1 000 000$ money in exchange

Shappy
Posted: 2/27/2010 3:19pm PST

Update:
After getting the DTD up and running I found out the DFG on the Veryron is horrible. Which gives us another reason why he traded it in for a ZR1. Now if he trades the ZR1 in for something else, I'll try to check the DFG on that too. We may be seeing a pattern here. I'll keep you guys updated. Until then, stay low and curb the straight.

- Shappy the Bandit

Rick
Posted: 3/1/2010 11:47am PST

I still have a hard time believing this guy essentially gave away 1+million dollars trading down to a substantially cheaper car. I just don't see that happening. There has to be more to the story.

ColtsChiefsTitans
Posted: 3/1/2010 2:34pm PST

Everyone: Think about it....
Assume he owned the Bugatti free-and-clear (paid off). He just negotiated the selling (trade-in) price and the dealer wrote him a check for over $1M plus he got the Corvette. In this economy, CA$H is king, and maybe he wanted the pocket change? OR, maybe he was choking on the $40-50K monthly payments.. maybe he's getting a divorce or wants to buy a $1.5M condo in the Caribbean, or whatever. Just reallocating his assets, moving ridiculous $$ out of the Veyron into cash (probably moved off-shore for tax reasons!). Only reason to buy a car w/that price is 1) EGO and 2) Appreciation as a collector's item. But c'mon, how many rich folks are there to buy these up in years to come? Expensive toy & waste of precious cash resources in a roller coaster economy. How will Veyron help you pay the bills if his oil company goes bankrupt?

ColtsChiefsTitans
Posted: 3/1/2010 2:38pm PST

Rick, I agree, he did NOT trade the Veyron straight up for the Vette. How many times do us 'little guys' make an even 1-for-1 trade of cars w/dealers? Now usually, our "trade-in" is worth less than our new car purchase... in this case he was 'trading down' but left with lots of cash in his pocket... liquidated his asset and still drives away in a beautiful (albeit much less exclusive) supercar.
Folks, can you just imagine the car salesman at the dealership... having to go into the 'back room' and talk to his manager, coming back with a number written down on the back of the Vette brochure, saying, "My boss told me to tell you he'll give you $950K for your trade, and take 2% off MSRP for the ZR-1..." :- O hahahahaha

ColtsChiefsTitans
Posted: 3/1/2010 2:41pm PST

The dealership will not let is sit on the 'Used Car' lot... to be vandalized, stolen, or have hormonal teen boys drooling over it. The dealership owner will hang onto it in his private collection, or they will sell it through one of the big auction firms... and unless they were stupid, they'll make a healthy profit (even 5% wouldn't be bad - $50K!)

yodaddy
Posted: 11/18/2010 3:10pm PST

what a moron i would of just sold the bugatti and bought a corvette

H1t|M4n
Posted: 2/16/2013 6:30pm PST

The Up keep on the Bugatti is outrageous . Some of the parts for that car in particular cost as much as a good second hand car or more. For what ever reason he did a trade like that its up to him and the dealership .

They are both very fast cars,but as far as the Zr1 goes, in the right hands ,that car is a bullet man . Maybe not able to reach the top speeds of the Veyron,but its no joke . In short the car moves .

As for myself i am partial to the ZR1, as a matter of fact very partial to it HaHa .